Flipping 101 With Tarek El Moussa - General Discussion

[CrazyInAlabama]

I don't think any kid of celebrities, especially the ones with huge social media presence, have privacy.   

The few who are very restrictive about showing their kids on TV, don't last long on the networks.   I think a long shot or occasional glimpse of the kids is one thing, but putting your kids in ads is over the line for me.    

I just hope this show comes back soon.    Clueless flippers are always entertaining to me, except where the super hot L.A. market gives some incompetents a huge profit.   However, that happens so much I guess I should be used to it.  

Edited July 16, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Grrarrggh]

7 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I don't think any kid of celebrities, especially the ones with huge social media presence, have privacy.   

When it's facilitated by the tabloids I feel for them, but the ones who use their children, like too many on HGTV, sicken and anger me. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by Grrarrggh

[BrainyBlonde]

22 hours ago, Gam2 said:

I thought that Tarik had to bank his sperm because of his cancer treatment. He and Christina had to do IVF to get Braydon. Am I misremembering?

That's exactly what happened. My understanding is that there's a strong chance chemo will render a man sterile, so that's why oncologists suggest banking sperm ahead of the treatment. However, there's always a chance that there will still be viable sperm. Apparently, that's what happened with Tarek/Heather since she got pregnant ahead of the IVF implantation. She did have eggs collected a couple months back though and it's possible the hormone injections she'd been taking for that made her more fertile. 

[Grrarrggh]

Or the kid is going to look suspiciously like the mailman..... 

[CrazyInAlabama]

On the Vegas flippers, who gets a stop work order, works any way and gets caught, gets another stop work order, and announces on a national TV show they're going to work anyway?    Then they get caught working again?   

If they kept flipping after this, I'm guessing the permit people were watching them very closely.    

Edited January 18, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[chessiegal]

Considering the many months long lag between filming and airing, I'm sure things were taken care of by the show aired.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Season 3 starts Thursday May 4, at 7 pm Central, 8 pm Eastern, followed by the new season of Fix My Flip.   Incompetent flippers are always fun to watch, at least I enjoy them. 

I'm wondering if the falling market will mean everyone doesn't score a huge profit this season? 

(I'm not very nice I guess, because it really irritated me during the first two seasons that total incompetents, who made every mistake, and did bad work, made a profit. )

I love that Izzy is advertised as being on the first episode. 

Edited April 28, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[Katie W]

On 4/22/2023 at 6:08 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Season 3 starts Thursday May 4, at 7 pm Central, 8 pm Eastern, followed by the new season of Fix My Flip.   Incompetent flippers are always fun to watch, at least I enjoy them. 

I'm wondering if the falling market will mean everyone doesn't score a huge profit this season? 

Tarek mentioned many times last season to the flippers that if the market changes they would have lost money. He's barely making a profit on his own show. I can't imagine what this will mean to those that don't know the business well. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Heather was in the episode with the desert flippers (green kitchen cabinets put super high on the wall), the Jun episode (they left the dishwasher out of the kitchen, had a tiny room called a fourth bedroom, only one bathroom, and that super tiny closet with no handle to open it), and the woman who was flipping the super expensive house with the fantastic view, and she kept going on vacation during the flip, and the finishes on tile, etc. were terrible.   

I'm hoping this season is another roster of incompetents, who aren't getting the huge profits because of the market.   Tarek does give great advice, and Heather does also, but the show is so much better without their personal stuff. 

"Three Buds and a Baby" What a bunch of whiney brats the three men are.   I liked the wife that's a designer, but I really dislike Bryan, who seems to have a hair trigger temper.   The thought of the two brothers having a fight over Easter dinner about counter tops in a previous flip is mind boggling to me too.    Erik and Mike (?) seem a lot more together than Bryan.  Tarek has some good suggestions to improve communication among the three men.   

Seeing Jeff the contractor is nice.   Jeff is right, Bryan doesn't delegate.   Bryan's main job should be supervising, bidding, and managing the information on the flips.   

I agree with the potential buyer about the front walk and the pebbles on the side, it doesn't appeal to me.   I'm over black  and white exterior palettes too, but really hate the super dark exterior wall colors that are so popular.  At least this house is mainly white exterior with black trim.  The interior roofline looks so much better with the drywall.   The navy cabinets on the island look very nice.  The main bedroom closet space is way too small.   The pool looks bad with the green water.  

I think pricing the house above the comps at $1.8 million is way overpriced.   I'm not surprised it didn't sell at $1.8.  I'm wondering if the trio will even make a profit on this house with the carrying costs, and pricing too high considering the comps. 

There are photos, and sold ad for the house. I noticed the pool looks lovely in the photos, and there is no staging. 

$1.415 million was the sale price, listing was $1.799 million.  So, sold for $384k below asking. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[iMonrey]

On 5/4/2023 at 5:01 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

"Three Buds and a Baby" What a bunch of whiney brats the three men are.   I liked the wife that's a designer, but I really dislike Bryan, who seems to have a hair trigger temper.   The thought of the two brothers having a fight over Easter dinner about counter tops in a previous flip is mind boggling to me too.    Erik and Mike (?) seem a lot more together than Bryan.  Tarek has some good suggestions to improve communication among the three men. 

The two that were brothers could not have looked less alike. Maybe they were only half siblings. Honestly I have never seen two siblings that looked less alike.

[Chris Knight]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The two that were brothers could not have looked less alike. Maybe they were only half siblings. Honestly I have never seen two siblings that looked less alike.

Maybe they were adopted. I only saw the first 1/2 but what was with the 3 of them and the buttoned up choke collars ? 

[Vivigirl10]

I liked the episode.  I thought the house was really pretty and I actually thought that once they drywalled the slanting roofline, it made the fireplace area more cozy.  

Was the wife really a designer?  I thought she had just been helping with some ideas.  It made me laugh that her choices were absolutely no different then what "designer" Christina would have picked!

The one brother was way too high strung.  His voice was like nails on a chalkboard. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Last week's flip flopped.   Purchased for  $1.275, break even $1.610 million, but it sold for $1.415 million, yes a huge loss.  They originally priced it for $1.799 mil.  However, loss was even worse, since I'm sure at least one flipper worked full time on it, and didn't have another job.  I'm not sure if the other two had other income?  

I guess this season's theme is "Incompetents turning potential profit into huge losses", I am enjoying this.  

Tonight's new episode "Married to the Flip" Season 3, episode 2.  Engaged couple, Jorge and Yesenia put all of the money they saved for the wedding into the flip, but as usual they way under estimated how much the rehab will cost.   Jorge has done several flips, had hard money loans, and lost every time.  (I'm already calling this a big flop).

$620k purchase, $80k rehab (way too little), think they'll sell for $800k. They want to pass the flipping business on to their two kids, their contractor is the best man.   They estimate 8 months to flip the house.  Tarek says they have to flip faster than that, and need to do 3 to 4 profitable flips to make a decent living.  1365 sq ft, 3 bed, 2 bath, in Montebello, CA.  Turns out to have galvanized plumbing, bet total rewire too. 

The overhead shot of the back yard still showed the giant pile of junk behind the garage, and nothing done to fix the ground by the garage.     

The flippers think they can go high end with the design and finishes, and sell for $900k or more.  Hector the contractor is slow, and because he's a long time friend, the flippers won't push him.  Now Hector is a partner with the $40k loan.   Jorge will do the haul away, and landscaping for $7k.  

Jorge's former flips were full of gray, and this time Tarek and Yesenia want to pick warmer shades.  So, Gray/Taupe or light taupe back splash, white shaker cabinets, marble look quartz counter tops, with waterfall edges on island.     I don't like that they're just patching the exterior, and painting over it.  Hector went on vacation, right before doing the interior.  Plus, Hector didn't tell the flippers he was leaving town, and it was a last minute vacation trip.

The flipper Jorge, screwed up, and it will be at least 6 more weeks to finish the flip. Hector says everything but the beam approval will be done in two weeks.   Another goof by Hector the contractor.   Still, after the beam, finishing is still two weeks away.  

The finished house looks so generic like every other flip. I loathe the wood slats on the fireplace.   Does it even meet the separation between fire box and surround required by code?  

None of the bedrooms have closet doors, and don't in the listing ad either.   Black tile on bathroom floor will show every piece of dust, and water  spots.  Primary bedroom is small, ensuite is small.  Stairs in back yard are old, and crooked, and lots of trash left behind the garage, and only bare dirt in a big part of the back yard. 

 I think $899k is way too high for the size and quality of the flip.  The back yard looks bad on at least half of it.  WHo leaves a lot of trash piled behind the garage?  

Initial break even is $790k.    They change the rehab to $120k, with Hector (contractor) financing the $40k with 10% interest.  New break even is $784k.   List price is $899,900, with projected profit of $115k.     Jorge and Yesenia need another contractor.    Offer was $850k, minus closing costs, carrying costs, money for Hector's investment, and credits I bet they'll have to do, not really profitable, at $65k profit, if that's even what they'll make. 

From the overhead picture, the house is next to a sports field parking lot, and still has junk behind the garage.   I bet with a better location the home would have cost more to purchase, and sold for a whole lot more. 

In the Redfin ad, it still doesn't have closet doors in any of the bedrooms.    The one thing I dislike about the staging is that they have a small, round four person dining table.  They should have used a much longer rectangle table to seat at least six.  It makes the dining space look ridiculous to use the smaller table. 

It's marked as sold on Redfin, 3 months ago, for $840,000.     So a profit of $56k.     If Hector received $40k for his loan to complete the job, then profit was $16k to the couple.   It was easy to spot on Redfin, the usual white exterior with black trim, totally generic and boring.   I was wondering about the neighboring homes too.   The house is right next to the parking lot for a baseball field, and there's some kind of water run off area down the block too. 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[CrazyInAlabama]

Tonight's new episode is "The Never-Ending Flip" Season 3 Episode 3. Two experienced flippers who keep getting delay after delay.  With the market going downhill, I'm sensing flop #3 for this season.  

 

In Long Beach, CA, Miguel and Drew are the partners, 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1700 sq ft, bought for $1 million all cash. Their first flip was a flop, lost under $10k, second flip made a little but had to hold it during Covid. Hope to sell for $1.3 million or over. Rehab budget $150k. kitchen is small, wall heaters, not central. primary bedroom is decent size, but no ensuite.  Big back yard, big living room.  Break even is $1.2 million.

Lots of termite damage interior and exterior. Third bedroom is a loft with a totally open side.     The flippers claim the termite damage wasn't as bad as they thought.  It may be a big back yard, but there are two story houses very close around the property. 

 $220k is what they spent so far, so way over budget.  So with the $1 million purchase price they are now over $1.2 million break even.  They're over six months on the rehab.  Their bathroom tile is the same boring gray, black, white. Still waiting on inspections, and still don't have permits.  They want to do luxury vinyl plank, not hardwoods.  They want to use a brick back splash, and paint it white.  white quartz counter tops with veining.  They're 10 months into the project, and barely have permits, but have to do more structural work.  They don't even have drywall installed yet. When they get drywall in, now the roof is leaking on their new drywall.

There is an ensuite on the primary bedroom.   They think they'll finish in 4 to 6 weeks.  No surprised the exterior is white walls, black trim.  They had to tent for termites, and rats.  

15 months to finish the entire remodel.   Cost for remodel was $150k, it ended up at $283k.   Break even is $1.333 millon.       List price will be $1.599k, profit $267k projected.    Air conditioner is right outside the sliders. Loft was turned into a bedroom, but upstairs is still hot.    In escrow at $1, 525k, wonder if it sold?   I couldn't find it as for sale or sold on realtor, or Redfin, but I wonder if it's technically not in Long Beach?   The show has fudged locations before. 

Thanks to GeorgiaRai, it sold for $1.5 last September.  It's on Zillow.   So, profit is supposed to be $167k, split two ways, $83,500 each.   So, the market was still decent then, but the interest rates have gone up a lot since then.   

Edited May 19, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[iMonrey]

Quote

Tonight's new episode is "The Never-Ending Flip" Season 3 Episode 3. Two experienced flippers who keep getting delay after delay.  With the market going downhill, I'm sensing flop #3 for this season.  

I swear I've seen this one before. The flippers looked really familiar.

[borealis]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I swear I've seen this one before. The flippers looked really familiar.

Me too!! It was driving me nuts! The flippers, the fake window, the laundry/bathroom combo! Also the blue patterned tile & the window near the street.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Maybe the flippers were on another show already?   Since the one flipper is Tarek's buddy, then maybe they filmed and showed a pilot while filming this  episode?   There have been a lot of one time only shows on HGTV. 

Were the flippers and Tarek shown at the same time, or were they mostly shown in separate frames?   It's very possible that the flippers were a failed pilot, and since Tarek knew the boxer, that they filmed the few joint scenes, and the beginning with the boxing, and then shot the ending.       

Edited May 19, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[GeorgiaRai]

This link was posted on Reddit. Looks like it sold last September for $1.5 million:

Zillow Long Beach CA

[iMonrey]

Quote

Maybe the flippers were on another show already?   Since the one flipper is Tarek's buddy, then maybe they filmed and showed a pilot while filming this  episode?   There have been a lot of one time only shows on HGTV. 

No, I'd swear I'd seen this episode. Because it opened with Tarek and his buddy sparring in a boxing ring and I immediately went "Oh this is a repeat."

[CrazyInAlabama]

Maybe this episode was a hold over from last season, but since it wasn't completed by the end of the season, it had no ending, so it didn't air, but they showed clips on the season trailer?    My 600 lb Life has done that before, where the season previews have people who didn't have their episode shown until the next season.  This flip went for 15 months, so I bet they started filming for a previous season, but I bet it was only 50% or less complete, so they couldn't show it. 

Mystery solved!     I looked on Reddit for the Flipping 101 threads, and if you look at r/flipping 101 season 3 episode 3, a poster says that several months ago, there was a sneak peek at Season 3, and it was at least part of this episode.   

Edited May 20, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[Scarlett45]

On 5/19/2023 at 6:03 PM, GeorgiaRai said:

This link was posted on Reddit. Looks like it sold last September for $1.5 million:

Zillow Long Beach CA

I really like that house. The black and white makes it easy for you to put your own personality on it. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Remember the two women with the Trabuco Canyon house that the one the father was financing?  The house with the suspended driveway, the huge ditches right next to the house?   The one's father was financing it, and they couldn't agree on anything?   It's on Zillow for 1.125 million, and already a price reduction of $40k, after a failed contract. It's been on and off the market for a couple of years.   

So for $1.125 million, you get lots of stairs, and a seating area in a ditch under the driveway.    At least they covered up the wall supporting the ditch wall and the driveway.   The previous dining was only with 2 stools by the island, and now the stagers took over the living area to put in a small table, and now the rest of the living area is tiny.  I wonder how much run off is surging through the ditches next to the house foundations?   Also, that house had what looked like septic tank hatches down in the ditch, so that's another complication for the owners. 

I wonder if it's still the same flippers that are selling, or if it was resold?   Now they say it's a horse property, but that's some kind of community barn and riding arena.   

Edited August 24, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[LinkAiris]

On 5/18/2023 at 6:32 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Tonight's new episode is "The Never-Ending Flip" Season 3 Episode 3. Two experienced flippers who keep getting delay after delay.  With the market going downhill, I'm sensing flop #3 for this season.  

 

In Long Beach, CA, Miguel and Drew are the partners, 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1700 sq ft, bought for $1 million all cash. Their first flip was a flop, lost under $10k, second flip made a little but had to hold it during Covid. Hope to sell for $1.3 million or over. Rehab budget $150k. kitchen is small, wall heaters, not central. primary bedroom is decent size, but no ensuite.  Big back yard, big living room.  Break even is $1.2 million.

Lots of termite damage interior and exterior. Third bedroom is a loft with a totally open side.     The flippers claim the termite damage wasn't as bad as they thought.  It may be a big back yard, but there are two story houses very close around the property. 

 $220k is what they spent so far, so way over budget.  So with the $1 million purchase price they are now over $1.2 million break even.  They're over six months on the rehab.  Their bathroom tile is the same boring gray, black, white. Still waiting on inspections, and still don't have permits.  They want to do luxury vinyl plank, not hardwoods.  They want to use a brick back splash, and paint it white.  white quartz counter tops with veining.  They're 10 months into the project, and barely have permits, but have to do more structural work.  They don't even have drywall installed yet. When they get drywall in, now the roof is leaking on their new drywall.

There is an ensuite on the primary bedroom.   They think they'll finish in 4 to 6 weeks.  No surprised the exterior is white walls, black trim.  They had to tent for termites, and rats.  

15 months to finish the entire remodel.   Cost for remodel was $150k, it ended up at $283k.   Break even is $1.333 millon.       List price will be $1.599k, profit $267k projected.    Air conditioner is right outside the sliders. Loft was turned into a bedroom, but upstairs is still hot.    In escrow at $1, 525k, wonder if it sold?   I couldn't find it as for sale or sold on realtor, or Redfin, but I wonder if it's technically not in Long Beach?   The show has fudged locations before. 

Thanks to GeorgiaRai, it sold for $1.5 last September.  It's on Zillow.   So, profit is supposed to be $167k, split two ways, $83,500 each.   So, the market was still decent then, but the interest rates have gone up a lot since then.   

Wow, what a rollercoaster of a flip! It sounds like Miguel and Drew really faced some challenges with this property, from unexpected termite damage to permit delays and budget overruns. It's impressive that they managed to turn it around and sell it, even if it wasn't for as much profit as they initially hoped. The real estate market can be so unpredictable, but it seems like they made the best of a tough situation. Hopefully, they'll take the lessons learned from this flip and apply them to their future projects.